


Scorn

by gutterfortunecookie



Category: Doctor Strange (2016)
Genre: Explosions, F/M, Gen, Light Bondage, Memories, Oral Sex, Reincarnation, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-02 19:51:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8681212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutterfortunecookie/pseuds/gutterfortunecookie
Summary: Love humiliates you; hatred cradles you...





	1. Blown

 

She was glad that her headache was gone but there wasn’t enough weed or Jack in her system to drown out the yelling and the flashes of everyone trivial needs. Duckface. Selfie. Hookup. Sheep, sheep.

She knew. She always did.

There seemed to be not enough touching in the crowds. Fine for a party but not anywhere else in society. She rolled her eyes and finished yet another drink she poured herself. She didn’t trust anyone. It was life.

“Stena!”

 _Fuck,_ she thought to herself.

She turned seeing the sexy butterfly that was her friend. Not the best of them but she believed in quality versus quantity.

“Hey, Han.”

Stena was surprised as Hannah rushed up on her and flung her tiny arms around her. She wasn’t, however, ready for the kiss that she was trying to avoid. Stena knew what she meant to her friend but she wasn’t in the right place as she had been for years. She broke the kiss and could taste some bad news as she hauled her friend to the nearest exit. Through the lights, she kicked a door open and helped her friend over the side of the fence as she vomited in the river below.

Stena rubbed her butterfly’s back and smiled through her blackened eyes as made-up guests reached for their cell phones.

“Yeah, get a _like_ at someone else’s expense, you fucking sheep.”

“Fuck you, _bruja!_ ”

“Your sister enjoyed me. Bring her, then we’ll tango, dumb shit.”

She snarled to the pair of scarecrows as they stumbled away. Her eyes found everyone in a continuous loop of drunken stupor, spoiled _nouveau riche_ brats. The forced laughter nearly made her want to get sick herself until she found darkness through the flashes.

The eyes weren’t dark but, she couldn’t describe it. They were calming and beautiful. She forced herself to see more of the man that the eyes belonged to. There was no idle expression to his strong face as bits of his skin faded. A strand of silver hair danced around as the rest of his hair was tightly pulled back. He dressed the part of everyone else as the bottom of his tunic swayed from the wind above his knees while leather bindings covered his arms and legs. He turned his head and smiled with his piercingly dark eyes.

_Estella…_

With the wave of his hand, both scarecrows were thrown from their feet, drawing attention from everyone around them. She turned her smiling face back to her friend as she pushed the long, blonde curls from her friend’s face, ignoring the harsh chill that ran down her spine.

“Sorry that I started drinking without you.”

“You’re fine, Hannah,” she reassured.

“I just wanted you to have a good time…”

“I know.”

She had spent hours just staring at the wall, thinking of life. Everyone was social and vibrant for Halloween. She wet her shortened hair, gave herself lip balm, some eye shadow and special lace dress she wore on certain occasions. An hour at her friend’s party and then she’d be home. She’d only apologize and admit that she didn’t want to come anyways.

_Learn to be lonely. Trust no one. Save yourself. Survive._

All rules she gave herself and they kept her moving forward. The world was cruel enough without her showing that she, like everyone else in the world was vulnerable.

Stena wished her friend felt the same rather than living in the moment but she respected Hannah for that as she carried her to the Uber waiting at the curb. She pushed Hannah in and took a picture of the car’s license plate number.

“She better be alive tomorrow or I will report you.”

“Yeah, Happy Halloween.”

She waited until the car was out of sight to return to what was left of the party. So much noise that could give her another headache. Eyes turned to her everywhere she went and it made her sick. Such primitive being only wanting part of her to be somewhere untainted and peaceful rather than tied down.

_Kill or be killed._

_“As it should be, my priestess…”_

She turned at the voice at the back of her mind, seeing nothing under the strobe lights. Stena looked for exit to leave but was stopped as the pair of scarecrows made their way in her direction.

“Oy, bitch!”

Stena was grabbed by her waist at the last minute as she was pulled to the nearest door, seeing an arm bound in leather strips carrying her away from the party. She blinked, thinking they would crash into the wall, only to disappear into a pitch-black room she assumed was one of the closets used for whatever people needed. She didn’t smell any spilled alcohol or any mysterious liquids, knowing the room was very well cleaned. Stena kicked herself free and ran headfirst into a wall.

“Goddammit!”

“You always favored no mess.”

A few dim rays of light shone behind her as she turned, seeing the man in the robe barely a foot from her.

“What in the hell?”

“You were never one to ask for help.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“So commanding and breathtaking as well.”

He touched the side of her face, strangely calming her as her back hit the dark wall.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you but he had said that before.”

He leaned down and kissed the place on her cheek that had hit the wall. Stena wasn’t one for emotions or physical contact but there was something about the kiss, the way his large hand formed at her hip to pull her forward. In the rays of light, she could see his other hand disappear into her chopped dark hair and leaned her head back as she felt his lips moving closer.

“Wha…”

The man pressed his lips to her without a bit of weakness as he pushed her to the wall.

_Lan… Lan…_

Stena found no reason to fight him as his kisses deepened. She opened her eyes, seeing the room change. Stone walls surrounded her and candles dimly lit what was now a frigid corridor. Somehow, she knew this place. The man pulled his lips away and kissed up her neck until he ended just below her ear.

She was frozen as the dark room returned, confusing her as the man slowly crouched down in front of her. He stopped at the hem of her dress and turned his face into the lace fabric, inhaling as his hand disappeared under the dress. She could feel his fingers twisting the sides of her panties, waiting, wanting.

“You must remember this, my love. Please forgive me.”

She gasped as her body jerked from the man snapping the side of her panties and pulling what was left down her legs. He was quick, pushing her dress up and burying his face between her legs. Stena wasn’t ready, to let him taste her and have his strong hand hold her to the wall as her hips bucked for him.

The man pressed his mouth to her, never slowing as he roughly pushed her leg over his shoulder to let his tongue could go further. Her voice began to echo as the corridor reappeared. Her body was covered in an elaborate black gown in place of the ragged lace dress as the small stones embedded in the fabric sparkled in the dim light. She looked down to the man as his voice was heard at the back of her mind.

_Please let me hear you. They will all know that you are mine…_

“Fuck…”

 _Louder,_ he ordered.

She knew what he wanted from her. It was on the tip of her tongue as she was on his. The man wrapped his hands around her legs holding her open as her voice rose louder.

“Lan…”

_Yes._

“Lantus,” she moaned.

He stopped, forcing himself back as his eyes burned into her. The walls disappeared again as she saw the man slowly creep up her body through the rays of light. His hands formed to every curve of her until he towered over her.

He brushed the soft brown hair from her eyes. He ghosted his lips to her jaw, his breath teasing her skin as his hand drifted back between her legs.

“Say it again.”

His finger brushed her clit as she tried to move away. The man snarled, spinning her face first and holding her to the wall. Stena felt herself flattened as she failed to hold her own hips still. She pushed herself onto his fingers for friction as his other hand settled at the back of her dress. He pulled down the cloth to see the black ink between her shoulder blades. It was the same markings.

The man’s smile twisted from ear to ear to the fortune bestowed to him. He kissed the ink, making his way back up her neck. First, at the bottom, where the bending designs unraveled up to smaller rivers of black ribbons until they met to one striking point that stopped at the top of her back. It was uncanny with no truer sign.

“I never doubted for a second.”

He curled his fingers to her clit, making her cry out as he shredded open the back of her dress. He reached around her, toying with her naked breast as he crashed into her again, waiting out his need for her. Stena could no longer make scene of anything. She could feel _him_ as his hips pushed harder into her back, she could feel herself come closer, so much closer.

That was when she could felt them.

She didn’t realize his hand had moved from her chest to his belt as the man slipped on a single bronze ring. The man looked to the changing metal as small, bold blades raced to the tips of his fingernails. He needed her, this strange, familiar woman that had taken him so long to find and he didn’t even notice. Now, he needed to be sure.

He slowed his hand, letting Stena rock her hips to his fingers to distract her as he traced the side of the ink with the first of the talons.

“Try and forgive me.”

He thinly slashed at Stena’s tattoo as she shrieked in pain. The man tried to cover her mouth but she was quick to bit his hand and throw her elbow in his face. The man stumbled, giving Stena a chance to run as she screamed for help.

“Someone! Help! Open the fucking door!”

She used the force of her body to try and break the door. She didn’t care that blood was dripping down her naked back in small ribbons. The man snarled as he shot to his feet. Stena pictured her apartment, thinking of a safe place if she was about to be killed but there had to be a chance. She didn’t notice how her hand was seeping with a blackened mist.

“I said OPEN!”

The door in front of her flung open, giving her a chance to run, though she wasn’t getting far in her heels as she thought she’d stumble into someone in the crowd. Stena fell headfirst to her apartment floor as the sound of the train got her attention.

She turned to the sound of heavy boots as the man pulled her up from the floor by her hair and dragged her away in one swift movement. He ignored her screams and her feet and she tried to kick him away. He let her go for a moment and waved his both hands. A flash of light, not from his hands, flooded Stena’s eyes as she heard chanting voice in the back of her mind.

The man took her moment of clarity to properly prepare her. The leather bindings from his arms wrapped around her wrists. Another wave and Stena was sent across the room as her body hit the wall, nearly rendering her unconscious. Her head hit the wall, making her vision spin as the man approached her. She could see his lit fingers turn, commanding the bonds to tie to the small metals bars of her bedpost. She looked up, swearing the leather bonds were tightening by themselves. It nearly hurt, adding to the pain to the burning cuts in her back.

The man scaled the bed, hovering over Stena as he looked down to her, to _her._ He turned her head and looked into her eyes, the dark and beautiful eyes filled with tears and for once, with fear.

“Please,” she begged as her voice choked in her throat.

“You have begged for me but not like this. Never to be in this way.”

He pressed his lips to her neck, making her shaking lessen with each kiss. The more she could feel him the less she feared for herself.

“Lantus…”

Her wrist pulled at the leather, making the man smile as he made his robes vanish with the wave of his hand. He also made what was left of her dress disappear as well as he let his hands wander the flesh of her body. She was different from Estella, much curvier but he could live with it and the sight of her as she followed his hands pushing her thighs apart. He arched his head forward and inhaled the scent of her, waiting to be devoured again but he would have time for that later.

“I loved you begging, Estella,” he panted as he inched back up her body, settling between her legs, “but I’ve always enjoyed your lovely screams…”

He shifted his hips forward and filled Stena as she cried out into his palm. Her eyes filled with lights again as voices filled her ears.

The man shuddered into her neck, overcome with the feel of her. She was absolute heaven as he shifted his hips again. He moved his hand away, hearing her whimper through her chanting as she gave in her to visions.

“That’s it. Remember, my priestess.”

Stena looked to the woman identical to her as the man, Lantus, was with her every time, with his hands on her, making her beg and moan for more. Her eyes shifted down to him as he nipped her collar bone with his teeth.

“Please…”

“Free yourself, Estella. Then you may do with me as you wish.”

He moved his hips sharper, swifter as Stena pulled at her bonds. Her better instinct told her to get free but something else needed to dominate him, control him so that she wasn’t one to be tamed. He pressed his thumb to her clit, making her jump as her body refused to fight him. Her fingers wrapped around the bars of her metal head board to anchor herself as she grinded her hips to meet his thrust.

She completely surrendered to him, no longer seeing him as a danger. Stena’s body was filled with bliss as her arms began to tingle. Her head turned to see the skin on her arms cover in the dark mist drift up her arms to the bonds attached to the headboard. The man’s hand shot to her neck and wrapped his fingers tightly around her throat. He tilted her head so her ear was masked with his heavy panting.

“You are mine. You will bring us into the darkness, priestess.”

He looked up to the mist slowly rusting the metal bars and decaying the paint on the wall behind the bed. His pants turned to a satisfying chuckle.

“I’ve lost a lot but they will not take you. You will be mine.”

Stena gasped for breath the moment he let her throat go. He thrusted harder, making each shift of his hips count as his thumb returned to her clit and showed her no such mercy. Stena cried out as the man used her release for his own. He sat his teeth into her neck, sucking harshly at her skin.

He remembered, not her but the simple sorcerer that ruined his work. Further back, he saw the glimpse in the mirror, the sorcerer’s lone eye of hurt as he feasted on Estella. Though he was there for her, it was going to bring him joy to see the doctor once again.

He hunched over Stena, grunting into her neck as he emptied himself inside of her.

 _It will all be worth it,_ he thought to himself.

He took his time to pull away from Stena and cherish every inch of her body. He kissed her skin, wanting to take her again but she was still too weak. He kissed her lips as she was slowly regaining herself. Her dark eyes opened to him as he looked to the dark wisps trying to move past the color of her eyes. Her powers were trying to break their threshold. It pleased him greatly. He waved his hand, letting the bonds loosen. Her arms fell naturally to the sides of her head as the man kissed the growing bruises.

“So fragile, just waiting to be awakened…”

Her head spun wildly as she could feel his lips. There was something wrong, she knew it, something that made her want to smile. His lips, his fingertips were everywhere on her skin, lulling her to sleep as his hand stopped and formed confidently at her stomach…

_In her dreams, He was still there. The 4:30 to downtown had just passed. She turned to her side, feeling a wonderful ache between her legs as she tried to press them together, anything to remind her of her familiar stranger. She could feel a kiss at her shoulder as his hair, free from its tie, tickled her skin._

_“Don’t,” he whispered, “Let me…”_

_His hand slipped between her covered thighs and slowly stroked at her. Stena rocked her hips slowly as she felt something shake her bed. There was a sound of a set of heavy boots running down the hall to her room. The door had swung open, hitting the closet door as the new sound of panting filled the room._

_“How are you here?!”_

_“I could say the same for you, Doctor. Come to enjoy the show?”_

_“I probably shouldn’t ask if you would endanger someone innocent. This is between us.”_

_He curled his fingers to her clit as she moaned into her sheets. She could hear the chuckle of his voice._

_“This one right here is far from innocent. You still don’t remember.”_

_A wave of energy filled the room as the man wrapped his arm around Stena and turned them to their side, all while moving his fingers steadily to her clit. She felt a kiss at her neck, his chanting covering the side of her neck as the second man grunted in pain._

_“I’ve had everything taken from me. You tried to send me to the deepest of Hells and it showed me past lives, Doctor. One of which you have had a great role to play. There’s nothing more I’d rather enjoy than watching your blood spill but I have other arrangements.”_

_Stena could feel her bedsheets gather around her body as the man tried to lift her from the bed. Her eyes felt hazy as they opened to a ring of light that blasted towards the man. The doctor, whoever the hell he was, moved through his pain to try and reach for Stena. The man crashed behind her, sending his own wave of light into the doctor as he crashed straight through her apartment wall and hard into the kitchen._

_The force had thrown Stena from the bed as she rolled to her back. Her body was weak and she could do nothing but lay defenseless. She couldn’t get to her feet and run like she normally would as the smell of gas from the kitchen filled her nose. Her limbs were of no use to her as the man turned her to her back. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest that his robes and leather bonds wrapped themselves around his body. His hands found her again as they pulled the leftover sheets tighter across her body._

_The mist from her hands were now surging through her eyes, showing his natural and past image simultaneously. The look in his darkened eyes were loving as they looked down to her._

_“They will all love you as I had, as I will again, Estella.”_

_“S-Stena,” she pushed._

_“Stena,” he chuckled as he brushed the dark strands of hair from her face._

_His expression of love turned to fury as a bright string of light wrapped tightly around the man’s neck and sent him crashing through the other side of her apartment. Stena hit the floor again as a brighter light filled her vision. The last thing she saw was the second man and the determination in his eyes as he dove for her._

_She had seen his pale blue eyes before, so filled with trust and heartbreak. He was still worn like leather. Was. Was still._

_His shadow covered her from the flames racing behind him, protecting her as she finally gave in to her weakness._

_There was nothing else. Nothing but fresh, crisp air that made her breathe easier._

_“Three lacerations to the back. What is that?”_

_“A tattoo. Even I know that…”_

_“What?”_

_“I know those markings. She needs to go.”_

_There was a warm hum at her back as she could feel her scratches heal._

_“Not until you tell me.”_

_“Now, Strange.”_

_She could feel a comforting but sharp pain in her hand as she opened her eyes to her worn man. She could outline the bit of grey in his hair and the clearer pale blue eyes that smiled down to her. There was nothing that would normally raise a red flag._

_“I’m sorry…”_

_He was genuine and… hurt._

_“Ilian…”_

Her foot jumped on its own as it hit the hard edge of the coffee table.

“Motherfucker!”

Stena reached for her foot, partially protected by the heels she had been wearing the previous night. Her eyes traveled up to the raggedy laced dress that hugged her curves. She looked around to her friend’s apartment in disappointment that she woke up from one of the greatest but ill-omened fantasies she’d ever experienced.

“Fuck that was a good one,” she mumbled to herself as she felt a growing tingle between her legs.

Stena stumbled to the restroom as she kicked off her heels and raided her friend’s medicine cabinet for something to ease her growing headache. Through her crusty eyelashes, Stena saw how pale her skin was that would have been covered in love marks from his teethShe choked down a few aspirin for the small buzz in the front of her skull from drinking and pushed her hips forward accidently. She shuddered, feeling her reminiscences of her dream, how real it all was. It was too real…

The bang of the front door made her jump as she rolled her eyes out the way of the growing apartment light.

“Ste!”

“What?!”

She had no time to push Hannah away as her friend threw her arms as tightly as she could around her. Stena dropped whatever smartass comment she was about to use when she felt the worry in her grip.

“What happened?”

“Dude, your building’s gone.”

Stena’s senses went blank as Hannah tried to explain what she was told. Stena only grabbed the nearest pair of her friend’s shoes and ran from the apartment. Her heart raced as she ran through the streets, past the various strangers on their walk of shame. Her head shot up to the raising cloud of smoke and there was something pulling her forward with some hope to her.

Stena pushed the chopped hair from her eyes as she joined the loud group on the side of the street. She looked up to what was left of the apartment building as she traced the edge of the blast in her mind, knowing that the epicenter was in her own apartment.

“No, fucking way…”

Stena felt a chill run up her spine, following the bit of red that disappeared down the alley near the Turkish bakery. She turned fully and pushed her way past the flashing lights of the early morning. They would be the media’s breakfast and after her for her feelings to pride like a show horse.

_Take caution…_

The second she was free of the crowd she followed the pale blue eyes that looked over his shoulder with a smile.

“Hey.”

He began to disappear as a bright glow filled the alley ahead of him.

“Hey!”

Stena had to force herself to stop as the worn, safe man from her dreams smiled to her from the other side of a spinning circle of what she guessed was energy.

“I… know you…”

“I’m sorry but you can’t remember this,” he sighed as he reached into the lapel of his robe.

_It’s him._

_“If I could, I would take away your pain. So much pain…”_

“Ilian?”

He stopped, shocked to hear the name but chose to shake it off. His smooth tan glove opened as she eyed a small pile of dark ash. He blew the pile into her face as Stena fought to catch her breath. Out of instinct, she swatted her arms and fought what wasn’t there. Her eyes went hazy as the circle began to close away her safe stranger.

She fell back into the crowded street unconscious and lucky that paramedics were within shouting distance as she fought to keep her disappearing memories as close as she could.

Stephen’s head began to spin the moment he closed his portal to the woman. He had no idea what Kaecilius had done to him or why he was even back but the unwanted visions of the woman he chose to place back into society had filled him with worry and useless hope.

It was indeed the past. His own and one that didn’t belong to him. He slumped against the stone of his sanctum as his powers were nearly drained from his body. His cape stopped him from hitting the floor hard as he too gave into his exhaustion. The last thing he saw was her, both of her.

“St… _Estella…_ ”


	2. I walk alone

 

_July 31_

 

Summer in the city.

She laughed at the sweltering heat as she turned on the power of the AC. The sure click made her smile as she dropped her only belongings to the floor and knelt in front of the blasting cold air.

“Everything is going to be alright,” she ensured herself.

Her voice echoed the empty studio apartment as she found the creaky bed and flopped herself down. Stena clutched the phone in her hand, opening the folder that broke her heart again. In the picture was her girlfriend, well “ex” after the previous day, kissing some guy that obviously wasn’t Stena.

 _Figures_ , she thought to herself, _I should have seen this coming._

All of her life, she kept saying she didn’t care. Most people were unreliable, selfish, every freak for themselves. Stena knew at least how to float for her own survival.

_Float on and never let anyone in…_

She’d broke her rule and gave Hannah a chance. She really did love Hannah but Hannah was more of a “free” spirit. Stena kept her eyes to the picture, giving in to kicking herself to believe that she could have anything as simple as a relationship or any kind of connection with someone remotely human.

She closed her eyes and felt the evening light drift over her face until a ring from her phone woke her. Stena smiled.

“What,” she huffed as she put the call on speaker.

“What the hell, man? Where’s all your stuff?”

“It’s in a motel on the other side of town,” she lied.

“Why? You having some moody mental breakdown again?”

Stena flipped through the phone and sent the picture to Hannah, hearing the nervous chuckle and readied herself for whatever bullshit excuse she’d come up with.

“Let me guess, he’s just a cousin. He’s an old flame. He’s got a dick the size of Atlantis…”

“Stena, please.”

Stena placed a cigarette between her lips and lit the end, inhaling the hell she’d tried to quit. She took her time coughing her lungs out as she brushed some ash from her tank.

“Do me favor and lose my number, bitch. You’ve lost any privileges related to me.”

“Stop being a drama queen.”

“Stop being a horse humping thundercunt and give your fucking clap a rest for once!”

She hurled her phone into a wall on the other side of the studio apartment and watched the shattered pieces dance across the floor. She turned to the wall and let her tears fall. She didn’t stop what she’d been feeling but it was better than feeling nothing; she knew it would all fade.

She would think for the longest time that she was cursed, imaging a future with anyone and have it gone in a moment. Stena was used to the unhappiness though it all hurt like hell. Her face grew hot from crying as she tried to calm herself down. Instead, she cried herself to sleep underneath the covers.

_She hated it. She was dreaming of everyone that had ever broken her heart, the ones that turned their backs to her and tossed her aside like a used toy. She was still, letting the sharp freezing wind sting at her skin. It kept her calm and ready._

_She kept her eyes closed as she was ready to let it all go. She didn’t want to try. Stena knew she was strong but she could only do so much. Her face would be spotted red when she woke but she wouldn’t look in a mirror. They would be there. She kept her eyes closed and attempted to will the world away._

_Darkness wrapped around her, warming her as she slept. For some reason, it was the only time she found peace. The darkness was a place she wished to stay until her dreams pulled her away. Her naked feet slapped on the stone floor as she ran with tears in her eyes. She stopped as she found herself looking into a beautiful vanity. Stena knew it wasn’t her from the beautiful gown that twisted from her running._

_She grabbed the nearest object and hurled it to the glass as it broke on impact, shattering to several small pieces. Stena remembered the woman as she tore at her gown to remove it from her body as soon as possible. With the wave of her hand, she sent the room into darkness as the wind comforted her. She sank her to bed and cried into her bedding. There was a present behind her that only she could hear beyond her soft sobs._

_She could feel the bed shift behind her as someone cradled her._

_“Shh, my priestess. There are no tears here. Only me.”_

_He knew why she cried and it brought a smile to his face, ensuring a place by her side, no matter the cost. His arm tightened across her ribs, making her hold onto him as her tears continued to fall. No words fell from her mouth as she tried to calm herself. Estella could feel his hand drift away as it slipped from her grip._

_“Fools. All of them. They are loyal but fools none the less.”_

_One hand arched up for her chest, covered by her corset, such strong, needing fingers as they formed to her flesh. The other hand formed to her hip as his fingers wandered so closely to her thighs._

_“Do not think me a fool for wanting to cease your tears. Illan…”_

_She pushed herself away and struck Lantus across his face as his long silver hair spilled over his shoulder. He could only smile as he looked to the fury and the heaving chest belonging to his woman. She wasn’t exactly his yet but he had her wrapped tight enough around her finger. All she needed was another push._

_Lantus stripped his robes, seeing the cautious wonder of Estella’s eyes, her virgin nerves appearing as goosebumps on her skin. Her eyes stayed to the scars littered to his skin, all for her cause. He lunged forward, pinning her to the mattress as Estella tried to break free. Lantus was as stone, holding her fast as she kicked and twisted underneath him. Her mouth opened to scream for help as he took the moment as his and pressed his lips to hers, slipping his tongue between her lip._

_He crashed into her using his body’s weight to shift between her legs. He deepened each of his kisses and pulled back enough to let Estella want more. She was still so young, so undecided as she pulled him back._

_“I will not force myself on you for you are not mine.”_

_At least not yet, he thought to himself as he looked down to her biting her bottom lip._

_“Your maidenhood is not mine to take but there is so much that you do not know yet.”_

_“Speak plainly,” she faltered as his hand cupped her neck._

_He was sly, tilting her head back as he looked down the length of her waiting body. Illan had her heart but Lantus knew his way around a maiden’s body and that of his priestess’. He pressed his lips softly to her neck, all a distraction as he pushed his hand past the hem of her corset to her flesh. Her hardened peak traced the palm of his hand, letting his mind fill with wicked thoughts of her. So many ways to make her writhe as she was starting to then. He groped her breast, making her hand wrap his to keep it there._

_“Tell me what you want,” Lantus whispered into her ear._

_He could tell from the way she rubbed her legs together to soothe what was waiting just for him._

_“If you don’t tell me,” he whispered as he kissed his way down her body, “then how will I know what you want.”_

_“It is a vice of yours. You always know.”_

_“Exactly.”_

_His hands were quick to rip her corset down the middle as Estella gasped in shock. His head dart forward with his lips wrapping around her hardened peaks. His weight had pushed her back to the bed as Estella’s back arched. He was cruel and harsh as his lips suckled harder and his teeth nibbled at her skin. She was a thing of beauty. Lantus was skillful to distract her as his fingers ripped the bit of corset standing in his way._

_He stopped and let go of her breast with a pop so that she would notice that he was gone. She pushed herself up slowly, seeing the bit of fabric gone as her eyes widened._

_“Lantus! You can’t!”_

_“I would do no such thing to you but there is no tale where a woman has lost her maidenhood with the tip of the tongue.”_

_“What?”_

_Lantus kissed the top of her thigh. It was his lips that warmed her thigh from the cold room. His hands that took their time to remember her flesh. He went back and forth, kissing closer to each of her legs until he ended at the mound of skin with a scent that made his clenching knuckles turn white. He kissed her skin as he would her, dipping his tongue only a little each time._

_“You have never heard or taken part in such an act…”_

_He licked the inside of her leg the moment he felt less resistance. He was convincing as her legs, she knew, opened more for him. He pulled himself closer to her core, needing a taste of her as he dipped his tongue further. His hand held her down just in time as they bucked hard into his hand. He snarled, lunging forward as his tongue flicked away at her swollen clit._

_Stena opened her mouth, moaning as Estella did. Something was wrong._

_Both of their hands shot down to hold him in place as his mouth formed to her sex. Estella writhed for Lantus, leaving Stena to feel what she did. It was the same hands that wrapped to her thighs to keep them apart._

_“Open your eyes.”_

_His hand went back for her breast, forming his fingers to her fresh as she heard his voice at the back of her mind._

_“Let yourself go, my priestess. I will show you what it is like to be truly worshipped.”_

_Her vision went dark as Stena felt her knees go weak. Bliss flowed through her body. Her moans slipped away from her as her hips bucked into him. The loss of his mouth made her whine as her arms darkened._

Stena’s eyes flew open as midnight flooded the studio. Sweat poured from her hair as the AC stung her with the blasting cold.

“You always hated the warm climates.”

Stena turned back to her bed, seeing the foreign but familiar eyes of the man that had her petrified to the bed. She saw the blankets collected at her stomach as his hand drifted to her open legs. He was too quick, curling a finger into her as her head rolled back. The man washed over her, kissing at her neck as she slowly melted under him.

“You are mine again, Estella.”

She closed her legs tightly around his hand to stop him as she looked into his eyes.

“I’m not her!”

“I know, my Stena. I have missed you s…”

He stopped as she loosened her legs. The moment his hand was free, he yanked the blankets away from her and looked to her bare stomach. A sneer appeared on his face as he looked over his shoulder to the empty space and then back to her.

“Where is it,” he hissed.

“What?”

The man raised his hand and struck Stena across the face as her lip split. He jumped on top of her and wrapped his hands around her throat. Stena kicked her feet underneath him and tried to get herself free. She looked through her blurred vision as darkness circled his grey eyes.

“Whore! How dare you take them from me!”

Her body jumped to the ring of light that knocked the man from the bed. Stena gasped for breath as she rolled from the mattress and slicked under the bed. She reached for her shorts that the man had pulled from her legs and looked to the boots and the lights that filled the apartment. Bits of the apartment fell from the walls as both sets of feet struggled back and forth until the older set of boots kicked a foot up and sent the other man to the floor.

He slammed to the ground as Stena met his blue eyes. The world stopped as Estella’s memories came flooding back.

_A burning village surrounded her as she hid under a cart full of hay. She turned her head to where the man was, swearing that his aged face had grown younger. She looked to the muddy puddle underneath her as the blurry image copied her._

_The water stilled from a moment in the chaos as she looked to the teenager that her memory became. Her head turned back to the boy, similar to her age as he brought up his finger to his lips. Blood poured from the side of his head to his rags as the sound of metal armor thundered to her._

_“The boy! He found her, kill them both!”_

_A hand reached under the cart and pulled her out by her hair with tears streaming down her face._

Her mouth opened as Stena screamed. She was dragged to her feet as the man raised a dragger in the air. She reached behind her, closing her fingers around her last life line. She pushed her finger down on the button and sprayed her can of Mace into his eyes.

He let go, screaming in pain as Stena ran in the other direction. She leapt over the second, familiar man and into the hall, not looking back. She was stopped as her hallway filled with three people draped with robes. The skins around their eyes darkened as well as they smiled to Stena. The rush of wind and light at her back set anyone wearing robes crashing to the walls. A hand wrapped around hers as she turned back. Her eyes glued to her darkening wrist, making her feel paralyzed.

“Time to go.”

“Strange!”

Stena felt danger all around her but when she looked into the blue eyes that she met on her apartment floor, she knew she could trust him. She ran, looking into her apartment as she saw fear and the Devil as the first man raced for her. She stopped, screaming as winter air greeted her skin. Her head yanked back as she reached behind her and burned the man’s hand as he screamed out. She felt a bit of cloth cover her as her blue-eyed man raised his hand and closed the spinning ring of light, cutting them off from her apartment building’s hallway.

Stena was lifted from her feet and carried up the largest step of stone steps she’d ever seen. Her blackened skin faded as the cold froze her skin. Voices filled her ears as the cape hid her from sight.

“Fool! Kaecilius will find us and kill us all!”

“He’s bound from the grounds and I’ve already laid out a path for him in the other direction.”

Stena’s feet touched the stone ground as her shuddering voice was heard. The red cloth was pulled away as Stena backed away from everyone. Her jaw trembled from the cold as she pulled a wall of shutters between her and the man that saved her.

“Stena, you’re safe now. Don’t be afraid.”

“She cannot be here.”

“She’s the same as us. That means she stays.”

“Then she is your responsibility. The minute she turns, I see that this sanctuary remains safe.”

“If it comes to that I will take care of it myself.”

“You know I can still h-hear you assholes,” shouted Stena as she tried to warm herself up.

She looked from the other side of the thick curtain as the angry voice stomped away. The one that saved her stopped in front of the shutter and knocked softly on the wood.

“You are safe but we have to take precautions.”

“I don’t know you. Who are you damn people?!”

“Please, just trust me.”

“No. I don’t do trust.”

“I did just save you from getting killed. How about we start with a place to change? There’s a storm outside and those shorts won’t do.”

“Sorry. I didn’t exactly have time to change.”

“We have room. Please, Stena.”

“How do you know my name?”

“We’ve met before, on the day after Halloween.”

Her mind sifted through what memories she could but came up with nothing.

“I don’t remember.”

Part of the shutter was pulled back as his glowing gloved hand touched the side of her head.

“I made you forget.”

Images filled her eyes as she saw herself in the black dress she woke up in the hospital with. Her skin crawled as she saw herself with the grey haired man that tried to kill her and the blue eyed man that saved her from the explosion in her apartment. The last thing she saw was the purple dust making her sleep.

She gasped as her knees buckled underneath her. The man caught her in his arms as he almost broke the wood to get to her.

“What the hell was that?!”

“I’m sorry. We’d thought you’d be safe if you did not remember but he found you again.”

“How did you find me?”

“You.”

“What?”

Her head spun as the man lifted her from the floor and carried her though the sanctuary. The smell of clean winter air calmed her from the roaring headache. She could swear the cape moved up and opened the sliding panel to a small but cozy room with a small fire. The man worked her under the thin sheets as the cape untied itself and covered Stena’s legs.

The man turned to the table next to her bed and poured a bit of red liquid into a spoon. Stena moved away from the spoon as the man chuckled.

“Don’t worry, it’s only a few milligrams of Acetaminophen.”

“What?”

“It’s like Tylenol for your headache.”

She was cautious as she opened her mouth and swallowed the stale cherry taste. She coughed and felt her fatigue sink in as the man sat with a book pulled to his lap.

“Who are you?”

“Doctor Strange but you can call me Steven.”

“Steven…”

_She closed her eyes, seeing a straw hut with the door barricaded. The boy returned from filling the holes of straw with thick mud. He cleaned off his hands and retuned to her side as she slept._

_“Don’t worry, El. I’ll take you away in the morning and we’ll never look back.”_

_“Never?”_

_“Never.”_

_He kissed her cheek as it eased Estella to sleep. She sighed and didn’t know she was speaking as well._

“Illan…”

Steven looked up from his book and checked her fever. The cape raised higher and tucked itself around her shoulders. He closed the book and moved to the panel. The cape’s corner folded to look at him as he stopped it.

“No, you stay here and protect her. I’ll be fine.”

The cloth unfolded and wrapped tighter around Stena as she slept. Steven made his way to the deepest parts of the sanctuary’s catacombs. Only an hour had passed and the probability of Kaecilius staying behind was unlikely. He took a deep breath and spun his sling ring as the ring of bright energy opened the same portal to Stena’s apartment. Steven stepped through cautiously to the burnt studio apartment. He hurried down the hall, seeing the outside of the apartment empty. A large scorch was left in the wake of Kaecilius broken ring, meaning he wasn’t as far, also meaning he was nowhere near Asia.

He turned back and locked the door out of curtesy. He was surprised to see the cabinets and shelves clean and clear of life. His arms gathered the small bit of belongings that Stena had packed away, thinking to leave the blanket behind. His free hand he opened the portal back to the sanctuary and stepped through.

The darkness hid him well as Kaecilius watched Strange move through his portal. He knows Stena was hidden but they were stupid enough to hide her back in the sanctuary. He looked to the cracked bronze ring on his finger, feeling defeated as he was not able to follow after them.

“There are other places, across the pond. Go.”

Each of his own turned and disappeared in search of Stena as Kaecilius was left alone. He turned his hand, ignoring the metal as he inhaled the scent of her on his hand. His tongue darted out, tasting her still there. He realized then that his actions would have cost him her life again. It was all a misunderstanding, his own fault for not understanding the new age of the world. She was responsible and not like most, she was not sheep as he had told her.

Still, she would be his in time, all he had to do was find her. He closed his eyes and saw her again.

_Her whole body arched under him as her voice stopped echoing from the walls. He panted, feeling his arm sore as he rested next to her. The pain in his cock throbbed for her as he looked down her to her half naked writhing body. He restrained himself from taking her. His lips kissed at her sweating skin, needing more as he looked up to the creaking door._

_“What do you want,” he hissed._

_The servant girl smiled to him as she checked over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t followed._

_“It is done, my Lord. Shall I bee of assistance in any other way.”_

_Lantus moved himself from the bed and stepped forward towards the servant girl. Her smile disappeared as his hand shot for her throat._

_“You did well, wench. Estella saw you with Illan. I should have known that fool would take you.”_

_“He-He didn’t, sir, I swe…”_

_He closed his fist tighter as her voice made Estella shift in her sleep._

_“You did as I ask but I fear I must make you pay for hurting my priestess.”_

_His eyes had darkened as he teleported them back to his chambers deep within the castle. He released the servant girl as she gasped and backed away from Lantus’ naked form._

_“No, please. I have done what you asked.”_

_“You have but she cannot know.”_

_He phased away the servant girl’s mouth as hauled her into the nearest table. She scrambled to get away but was no use for the sorcerer’s spells as she was bound to the table. The servant screamed into her skin despite his chambers being well away from anyone’s ears. He licked his lips and stalked the table. He stroked himself, needing release as he grabbed the servant’s hair and pulled her back so his panting breath could be heard._

_“You are not my priestess but you will do fine.”_

_Lantus thrusted himself forward and filled the servant as she cried out fi her mouth had been there. He was filled with anger, lust and pride as he imagined Estella underneath him, writhing and perhaps tied down for his benefit. He was by her side for years, fighting for her, training her soldiers for the death spreading to the lands outside the walls of their sanctuary. So long and he made sure he secured his place by her side as her aide and soon as her husband. Everything was falling into play as he smiled and slammed his hips harder into the woman underneath him._

_He waved his hand summoning a rope as he let her hair go and wrapped the ends around his hands. Lantus stopped for a moment to twist the rope around the woman’s neck, strangling the breath from her as he fucked her harder into the wood. Growls spilled from his throat, making him feral as he tightened the rope tighter. He pushed himself harder, hearing the table shift under them._

_He came, roaring into the dead of night as he braced himself on the edge of the table. His eyes opened to the woman dead and unmoving. He pushed himself away and clothed his lower half. He waved his hand to preserve the dead body bound to the table. The bonds disappeared as the dead woman’s arms fell naturally to her sides. It didn’t bother him as he retreated to his side of the chambers and rest upon his bed. He looked to the ceiling, growing hard again as he thought of his woman, his right to claim. Everything went according to plan as he pulled the silver ring from his pocket and smiled._

_“Soon,” he smiled as he closed his eyes._

Kaecilius was able to will himself down to a bearable stance as he shifted himself in his robes. Lantus was careless and undisciplined, not as he was. Soon, he would find Stena and unleash her potential on the world as she had done once before. He stood and looked to the city bustling underneath him.

“Soon, my priestess,” he agreed as he slipped into the darkness and into the night.


End file.
